How do I get Data Visualization Charting Components for FB Linux?

I was reading the FB Linux FAQs and came across the question that became the title of this post. The answer was…

While the Data Visualization and Charting components are not part of the Flex Builder Linux Alpha, it is possible to purchase a Flex Builder 3 Professional license (either Mac or Win) and move the licensed datavisualization.swc file over to your Linux installation. This process has been explained by various users in our forums and is acceptable under the terms of your Flex Builder 3 license.

This answer didn’t make me happy. I tried googling for the exact solution, but in vain. So I decided to post the solution myself. Here it is. The trick to make this work lies in 2 swc files existant in your Flex SDK Folder.

Pre-Requisite: You need to have an SDK with Data Visualization Charting Components already installed.

When you install FlexBuilder on Windows/MAC, it already comes the Data Visualization Charting Components installed, but with a watermark on them. If you have the serial number, then the watermark goes away. Now this is what you need to do…

Caution: Please make sure that your SDK installations on Linux & Win/Mac are compatible before you follow the steps below. To do this go to [FB Install Folder]/sdks/3.0.0/bin folder and type the following on the command-line (or terminal) to ascertain the version numbers are the same.

mxmlc -version (on WIN)

./mxmlc -version (on MAC/Linux)

Steps to Install Data Visualization Charting Components for Linux

1. Go to the [FB Install Folder]/sdks/3.0.0/ folder on your WIN/MAC
2. Get the following files…
   • [FB Install Folder]/sdks/3.0.0/frameworks/libs/datavisualization.swc
   • [FB Install Folder]/sdks/3.0.0/frameworks/locale/en_US/ datavisualization_rb.swc
   • [FB Install Folder]/sdks/3.0.0/frameworks/license.properties
3. Copy this to your FB Linux installation in the same directory structure as above

This should get Data Visualization Charting Components working on Linux, complete with code-hinting. Let me know if you have any problems.

Addendum: I had overlooked the need for continuing to use Charts in Flex2.0.1 on FlexBuilder. In that case, you can copy the file [FB Install Folder]/sdks/2.0.1/frameworks/libs/charts.swc to the same location in the 2.0.1 SDK delivered with the FB Linux. You can also copy the file [FB Install Folder]/ sdks/ frameworks/ license.properties from your 2.0.1 SDK in Windows to the same location in the 2.0.1 SDK in Linux. This should get rid of the watermark if you have a license.

My Blog in Korean & Japanese

I see that a lot of people from Japan and Korea are visiting my blog. Firstly, thanks guys, I hope it was helpful for you…

I was playing around with Yahoo! Pipes and I came across a feature called Babel Fish (or look at this for something more interesting ). I created 2 translated feeds of my blog in Korean and Japanese using it. Here are the links

• FLEXing My Muscle in Korean
• FLEXing My Muscle in Japanese

Looks like this feature is deprecated, so not sure how long it will work, but hope it helps while it lasts

FB on Linux – Beneath the Surface

I thought it would be worthwhile to look beneath the covers and explore a little bit more of FlexBuilder on Linux (I still need to get used to calling it that, having called it by the code name for so long).

1. Unsupported Features

• Design view
• States view
• Refactoring
• AIR support
• Automated testing
• Data Wizards
• ColdFusion Extensions to Flex Builder
• Web Services introspection
• Profiler
• Data Visualization components

What you need to understand is that the above features may be unsupported for many reasons. It may well be that it is not still implemented or that we want the community to speak up on which of these features is desired, if so. So let your voice be heard on the FB Linux Forum

2. System Requirements

• This release of FB Linux requires Sun JRE 1.5.x and Eclipse 3.3
• Flex Builder Linux Alpha only supports Firefox (all versions).
• Flex Builder Linux requires the debug version of Flash Player (Linux) to support debugging applications from within Flex Builder Linux alpha. Download it here…

3. Logging Bugs on FB Linux

As I mentioned earlier. You can log bugs on FlexBuilder Linux on our Flex Public BugBase under the FB Linux Project. It would really help us if you can provide the following information while doing so.

• Which platform & version on Linux are you working on?
• The exact steps for reproducing

What you need to remember here is that a bug may be due to various reasons…

1. A bug in the FB Linux code
2. A bug in the FlexBuilder itself (Win, MAC & Linux)
3. A bug in Eclipse
4. A compatibility issue in a specific OS
5. Others (in the SDK… etc)

If your bug falls in the (2) Category, it would be great if you can log the bug under the FlexBuilder project instead of the FB Linux project. This would help us solve the bugs in a speedy manner.

For more details, you can view the FB Linux Release Notes and FAQs

Moxie & TUX – Flex Builder on Linux

It really heartens me to see the fervor with which the Linux community has taken onto Flex. We at Adobe have shown our commitment by rolling out Flash Player for Linux. Now with Flex going open-source, I see a bright future for Flex on Linux.

But the major complaint that almost all Flex Devs on Linux has raised is the unavailability of FlexBuilder on Linux. This in a way is a validation for the IDE that makes coding simpler and debugging efficient. We got to work on it and it has borne fruit

Here’s presenting FLEX BUILDER ON LINUX !!! FB on Linux is supported on the following platforms…

• SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (x86 32-bit version)
• RedHat Enterprise Linux WS 4 (x86 32-bit version)
• Ubuntu 7.0.4 (Feisty) (x86 32-bit version)

You can make FB Linux work on 64-bit Operating Systems also. See the FB Linux ReleaseNotes for the same or even better, Tom Chiverton has a post that demystifies things

We have also launched a Labs forum for FB on Linux, so let your voices be heard. This is still in alpha and we need your valuable comments to evolve it into a product for your needs. Also let us know if you find any bugs. You can log them directly onto our Flex Public Bugbase under the FlexBuilder Linux Project.

This is a huge leap for us in the Flex team and I’m proud to be sitting next to the folks who engineered this product and made this happen….